TEA-ALU: Six More Years of 'Patch and Pray'

(10/01/2005)
By William Henry, PE, FASCE

ASCE lauds congressional leaders for agreement on the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, but says funding level fails to addresslong-term investment needed to support a healthy economy and population.

The American Society of Civil Engineers commends congressional leaders for reaching a final agreement on the Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users.

The long-overdue legislation will provide $286.5 billion over six years to maintain the nation's overburdened transportation infrastructure.

However, this funding level fails to meet the long-term investment required to support a healthy economy and population, continuing the ineffective "patch and pray" mentality.

As outlined in ASCE's 2005 Report Card for America's Infrastructure and reported in the Federal Highway Administration's 2002 Conditions and Performance Report, an investment of $375 billion over the same period of time is required to address America's growing congestion and highway safety problems and curb the increasing economic cost of a crumbling infrastructure.

Once again, Congress is shortchanging one of America's most valuable assets - our national infrastructure.

On March 9, ASCE released its 2005 Report Card, examining trends and assessing the progress and decline of America's infrastructure. The report concluded that the condition of our bridges has remained the same - a grade of C - while our roads and mass transit systems continue to decline - from a D+ to D for roads and from C- to D+ for transit.

While the bill falls short of providing the needed funding, certain provisions will help address our nation's looming infrastructure crisis.

Changes in the environmental review process will speed up the design and construction of transportation projects while protecting the environment. Congress also renewed the budgetary firewalls, which will guarantee that user-fee revenue in the highway trust fund will be used for transportation purposes.

The legislation also provides for a robust highway research program to produce longer-lasting materials, better construction techniques and improved safety.

Finally, the legislation creates a commission to address the funding crisis facing our nation's surface transportation program, and we look forward to participating in the efforts to find long-term solutions.

William Henry, PE, FASCE, is president of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 137,000 civil engineers worldwide and is the oldest national engineering society. in the United States.

For More Information

To read more about the American Society of Civil Engineers' Report Card for America's Infrastructure, including state infrastructure statistics, visit the Web site at www.asce.org/reportcard.

Click here for more Opinions >>

Click here for more Columns >>